New York Daily News

Mayor de Blasio reaffirms his support for students' gun control walk-out, says city lesson plans will include issue

Jillian Jorgensen ·Feb 23, 2018 3:02 PM

Mayor de Blasio reiterated his support for students who plan to walk out of schools in support of gun control next month — and said the city would offer lesson plans on the subject.

“These high school students are doing something very commendable and very powerful. We are going to do lesson plans around this issue leading up to that day,” de Blasio told WNYC’s Brian Lehrer Friday. “We are going to make sure that there's a real educational impact. We are going to make sure that whatever happens is done in a safe and orderly fashion.”

“We are going to make sure that there's a real educational impact. We are going to make sure that whatever happens is done in a safe and orderly fashion,” de Blasio said.Image by: Susan Watts/New York Daily News

But that prompted a question about how Hizzoner — who has called for gun control legislation himself — would avoid “indoctrination” of students with his own political positions on the subject, or those of their teacher. De Blasio said the Department of Education has always worked to “present all sides in different historical issues and current events.”

“I certainly wouldn't want any individuals' viewpoint leading the discussion, my own included,” de Blasio said. “But I think it is an important moment for young people to debate and to reflect and to think about the world that they want to create.”

RELATED GALLERY

Student survivors from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School are greeted as they arrive at a rally for gun control reform on the steps of the state capitol, in Tallahassee, Florida on Feb. 21, 2018. ▲

Protesters rally against gun violence on the steps of the old Florida Capitol in Tallahassee, Florida on Feb 21, 2018. ▲

Students from Montgomery Blair High School march through Silver Spring, Maryland in support of gun reform legislation on Feb. 21, 2018. The demonstration comes a week after a gunman killed 17 of his former classmates and teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. ▲

Protesters rally against gun violence on the steps of the old Florida Capitol in Tallahassee, Florida on Feb 21, 2018. Students at schools across Broward and Miami-Dade counties in South Florida planned short walkouts, one week anniversary of the deadly shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. ▲

After marching out of their classes, students will take public transportation to D.C. where they will demand for gun reform legislation. ▲

Aria Siccone, 14, a 9th grade student survivor from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where more than a dozen students and faculty were killed in a mass shooting on Wednesday, cries as she recounts her story from that day, while state Rep. Barrinton Russell comforts her, as they talk to legislators at the state Capitol regarding gun control legislation, in Tallahassee, Florida on Feb. 21, 2018. ▲

Students from Richard Montgomery, Bethesda-Chevy Chase, Blair and other Maryland and D.C. schools are reportedly taking part in the walk-out. ▲

Protesters rally against gun violence on the steps of the old Florida Capitol in Tallahassee, Florida on Feb 21, 2018. ▲

The Education Department said it’d providing schools with “guidance” on the subject.

“We'll be giving schools guidance on facilitating thoughtful conversations about civics and current events, and providing students with an opportunity to have a respectful dialogue,” DOE spokeswoman Toya Holness said.

As for the walk-out, de Blasio said he encouraged parents to “weigh in” on whether they were “comfortable with a young person walking out.”

“It is supposed to be for 17 minutes. We expect the school day before and after to proceed,” he said.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., is evacuated after a shooting.Image by: Mike Stocker/AP

For younger kids, he said the city is working on a plan to allow middle and elementary schoolers to participate in some way “within the context of the building.”

“You know, to gather in the building for the memorial to the 17 young people lost, 17 people lost I should say,” he said. “And again that may be silent, that may be with young people speaking, that's all being worked through.”